Regulation by country
Student accommodation regulation, country by country
Before opening or running a residence in another country, three questions keep coming up: what the legal figure is called there, what contract is signed with the resident, and which data law applies when residents are answered on WhatsApp. Here they are, country by country, with the official law in front of you and what the law does not say.
The countries, compared
| Country | Legal figure | Contract | Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | Colegio mayor, a university institution (LOSU, 7th additional provision); university or private residences have no law of their own | LAU (Urban Leases Act): habitual residence (Art. 2(1)) or temporary residence (Arts. 2(3) and 9 bis) since 8 October 2026 | GDPR and LOPDGDD (Spanish Data Protection Act) |
| United Kingdom | University halls, private PBSA and shared houses or HMOs (Housing Act 2004, s. 254) | England: a student's contract is not an assured tenancy if the manager is a member of a specified code (Housing Act 1988, Sch. 1, para. 8); Scotland and Wales have their own law | UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 |
| Ireland | Student specific accommodation (SSA), s. 3(1A) of the 2004 Act (Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2019, s. 3) | Lease or licence, under the same regime (s. 37 of the 2019 Act); 41 weeks at most (2024 Act) | GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 |
| Portugal | Alojamento para estudantes do ensino superior (higher-education student accommodation), with rules of its own from 10 residents (Decree-Law no. 14/2022, Art. 2) | Fixed-term urban tenancy for transitory education purposes (Civil Code, Art. 1095(3)) | GDPR and Law no. 58/2019 of 8 August, which implements it in Portugal |
| France | Résidence universitaire (university residence; Construction and Housing Code, Art. L631-12) | In a résidence universitaire, one year at most, renewable; outside it, a furnished let or a bail mobilité (Act no. 89-462, Arts. 25-7 and 25-12) | GDPR and the Loi Informatique et Libertés (Data Protection Act, no. 78-17 of 6 January 1978) |
| Italy | Struttura residenziale universitaria, collegio or residenza (Legislative Decree 68/2012, Art. 13); collegio universitario di merito, Arts. 15 to 17 | In private ones, a hotel-type contratto di ospitalità (hospitality contract, Art. 13(5)); in a flat, a student tenancy (Law 431/1998, Art. 5) | GDPR and the Privacy Code (Legislative Decree 196/2003, adapted by Legislative Decree 101/2018) |
| Germany | Studenten- oder Jugendwohnheim (student or youth residence), not defined in the law | Residential tenancy under the BGB with the exceptions in section 549(3) BGB | DSGVO (the GDPR) and the BDSG, with a data protection officer required from twenty people (section 38) |
| Netherlands | Studentenkamer (student room); the law separates self-contained and non-self-contained homes (Art. 7:234 BW) | Tenancy under the BW: campuscontract (Art. 7:274d) or fixed-term of up to two years (Art. 7:271(2)) | GDPR (AVG in Dutch) and the UAVG |
| Belgium | Kot in everyday speech; in law, each region's student tenancy contract | Flanders: Vlaams Woninghuurdecreet, Title III. Wallonia: décret du 15 mars 2018, Chapter V. Brussels: Code bruxellois du Logement, Title XI, Chapter IV | GDPR and the loi du 30 juillet 2018 |
| Mexico | No act of its own; the contract is an arrendamiento (lease) or a hospedaje (lodging agreement) (Federal Civil Code, Arts. 2398 and 2666) | Each state's civil code; in the capital, the Civil Code for the Federal District, Arts. 2398 and 2448 to 2448 L | Federal Law on the Protection of Personal Data Held by Private Parties, published in the DOF on 20 March 2025 and in force from the following day |
| Colombia | No act of its own; the closest is the contrato de pensión (boarding contract) of Law 820 of 2003 (Art. 4(d)) | Lease: Civil Code (Art. 1973) and Law 820; lodging: Commercial Code, Art. 1192 | Law 1581 of 2012 and Decree 1377 of 2013, compiled in Decree 1074 of 2015 |
| Chile | No act of its own; the OGUC defines the hogar estudiantil (student hall, Art. 4.5.2) | Lease (arrendamiento): Law 18.101 and the Civil Code; lodging falls outside that law (Art. 2(4)) | Law 19.628 today; reformed by Law 21.719 from 1 December 2026 |
| Argentina | No national student accommodation act | Lease (locación): Civil and Commercial Code, Arts. 1187 ff., as amended by Decree 70/2023; Law 27.551 is repealed | Law 25.326 and its Decree 1558/2001 |
| Peru | No act of its own; the contract is an arrendamiento (lease) or a hospedaje (lodging agreement) (Civil Code, Arts. 1666 and 1713) | Civil Code, Arts. 1666 to 1712 and 1713 to 1727 | Law 29733 and its Regulation (Supreme Decree 016-2024-JUS), in force since late March 2025 |
A summary: the detail, with the article and the link to the official law, is on each country's page. Checked on 19 Oct 2026.
Spain
Europe
- United KingdomFour systems in one country: in England, membership of an approved management code weighs on whether a student building is an HMO and on which contract is signed; data follows UK GDPR.
- IrelandA figure of its own: student specific accommodation, within tenancy law and under the RTB since 2019, whether signed as a lease or as a licence.
- PortugalRules of its own for the building since January 2022 (Decree-Law 14/2022 and Ordinance 35-A/2022); the contract is a Civil Code tenancy and data goes through the GDPR and Law 58/2019.
- FranceThe résidence universitaire has a legal definition (Art. L631-12 of the Code de la construction et de l'habitation); the rest of student accommodation is let under the 1989 Act, as a furnished let or a bail mobilité.
- ItalyThe "struttura residenziale universitaria" has a legal definition (Legislative Decree 68/2012, Art. 13), split into collegi and residenze; letting a flat to students comes under Art. 5 of Law 431/1998.
- GermanyNo residence act: section 549(3) of the BGB cuts back tenant protection in a Studenten- oder Jugendwohnheim, and building rules and the data authority depend on each Land.
- NetherlandsNo residence act: Book 7 of the Civil Code gives student lettings the campus contract and the fixed-term contract, and the Bbl sets its own measurements for student housing.
- BelgiumThree student tenancy regimes, one per region, with different terms, deposits and exits; data protection and whistleblowing, by contrast, are federal.
Latin America
- MexicoNo act of its own: a lease or a lodging agreement under each state's civil code, civil protection for the building and a federal data protection law that is new since March 2025.
- ColombiaNo act of its own: an urban residential lease or the contrato de pensión of Law 820, commercial lodging, and habeas data under Law 1581 and the SIC.
- ChileNo act of its own: a lease or a lodging agreement, the OGUC's "hogar estudiantil" and a data protection law that changes on 1 December 2026.
- ArgentinaNo national act of its own: the Civil and Commercial Code lease after Decree 70/2023, each municipality's licence, and Law 25.326 with the AAIP.
- PeruNo act of its own: a lease or a lodging agreement under the Civil Code, a municipal licence with a safety inspection, Law 29733 with a new regulation and an AI regulation in force since 2026.